Why? Because it is cheaper to fly to England than it is to fly from Toronto, Canada to Canberra, Australia where my best friend lives. Instead, we will meet in London where he will work on his Ph.D research while I will visit as many museums and galleries as possible. The theatre costs less, many museums are free and I will happily make a diet of Indian food. So it evens out in the end.

I will also work on expanding my creative base and think about how I can earn an extra income while making a change of pace.

I didn’t notice this in these postings, but one of the things that has frustrated me is the paternalistic attitude I hear sometimes about the Recession, about how those affected are somehow to blame for the struggles they now face. I’m a voluntary simplicity proponent, so I agree with comments about consumerism and an environmental break for the earth. At the same time, it’s not just those with sub-prime mortgages or latte habits who have been affected. Jobs are being lost all over the place, by people who have been both responsible and frugal.

My family’s been hit. I’m working as many hours as my employer will allow, while my other half (who was laid off months ago from a failing industry) looks for work and tries to get training for a new career. We’re lucky in many ways (with both food and shelter — and miraculously, satellite TV, even after we had it shut off), but it’s not easy either.

So riding out the Recession? Well, we’re getting by. It’s making us stronger, I think. Also, it’s been a boon for our creative pursuits. Who knows? Maybe something great could come of that.

My husband and I are both artists, he is a jazz musician when he isn’t working occasionally as an electrician and we have found having skills has really helped.

Can you make soup? Do you know how to go out the door with a list of necessary items for purchase in your head? The thrift shop, the second hand store, the 75% off table pushed out at the front of the store are treasure troves. All of the years that we have spent making do are now paying off, literally.

It is those around us who have lived with consumption as recreation, who haven’t learned how to make a good soup, to launder their own clothes, to ride their bikes to a job or how, when and where to find a “deal” that are in panic mode.

So why aren’t these skills taught to each and every student in school: home management, bookkeeping, auto repairs, cooking, sewing and shopping for value? It could save countries millions of dollars. What do you think?

We are a family who sold our home, cars and almost all of our possessions in 2005 and mostly got out of the dollar because we saw this coming.

It seemed like a perfect time to take an open ended trip around the world which we have been doing for almost 3 years now. We live large on 25K a year total costs for a family of 3, so we have found we can travel the world for much less than we live at home and we are loving the experience.

We do see the economy affecting everyone from from Denmark, to Ireland to our tiny village here in Spain where we are spending our third winter. We are affected in some ways, but mostly our happy life just continues.

I do think everyone should be pro-active ,preparing for both the best and also for the worst possibilities. It is important to look ahead and understand things like demographics. I am an optimist, but I also understand that things could get much, much worse than most seem to be aware of yet.

I think we can learn from people who have survived collapses like in Russia or Argentina. Just to be on the safe side, everyone should have a stockpile of beans, rice, seeds, and a -20 sleeping bag. I think this has just barely begun.

Hopefully, it will not get as bad as some are saying, but if it does, are you prepared? I think we all need to think out of the box and listen to out of the box thinkers.

It was the out of the box thinkers who wrote books that warned about the problems that are here today. Most of them were exactly right, while the established media laughed at or ignored them. You won’t find the answers in the established media or politicians as they do not think ahead.

I listened to the out of box thinkers and LOTS of different voices and it helped us make good choices that have served us well. I did not think there was going to be a problem at Y2K , but just in case the worst scenarios happened, I prepared and put in my first winter organic garden.

The worst did not happen, but I really enjoyed that garden, learned a lot and continued with that pattern until we sold our home. I call that a win/win and that is what I always try to get out of life and will do it with this recession/depression as well.

I don’t shut my mind to the best voices, or the worst voices, but listen to all, take calculated risks and have an inner commitment to make the most out of whatever life hands me and be happy no matter what. If figure the only real choice you have in life is to go through it laughing or crying, and I would rather laugh.

“The only way out of a recession is Personal Responsibility and Creative Thinking. ”

I agree with that very much, but I also think community will be important. We will need each other more than ever, especially if things get really bad and it goes on for many years. Relationships will be key. That is a good thing.

Perhaps we will find even more blessing though what ever challenges show up. Love is all that we need in life and if the challenges bring us all to a more simple way of being, I don’t think that is a bad thing. We can all learn more about what is truly important in life and let go of “things” and focus more on experience and connecting.

Think about life goals and where you’re headed.
Do something you never dared to before.
Pack up your stuff and take a year off just to travel on the cheap.

I’m hoping that I’ll grasp at least a couple of the opportunities that present themselves.

I pulled up my roots and left NYC.

Have only a cell phone bill to deal with.

I am taking the tremendous amounts of free time I have by developing my skill set and creating projects that benefit communities I am a part of.

It can be a lot of work some days, can be lonely on occasion, but it is an incredibly rewarding experience.

I don’t plan to sit it out, I plan to engage with the situation as it is, learn something from it, do what I do and do it better, and be grateful that I have the habit of not buying on credit and being content with that I can afford.

And, if your tour of Southern Africa includes South Africa, travel well!

We’re lucky as building work is due to be kick-started locally in the next few weeks (fingers crossed) so we should be ok (although this has lead to a pretty much major set-back for the travelling plans of 09 – but I’m not dwelling on that just yet!).

I think there’s a lot to be said for a positive attitude and at the end of the day there are loads of people worse off than us and at least we know that somewhere down the road destiny with throw out a life line! jen x